Concert Review: A History of Violence

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra return to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Riccardo Muti (on podium) leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine
at Carnegie Hall on Friday night. Photo © 2018 Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 

Mention the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a room of classical music cognoscenti and you are likely to get the following reactions: a sigh of pleasure, a small smile, or a comment about the sonic size and vigor of their legendary brass section, who, in a city if big shoulders, cast the widest possible shadow. That orchestra and its leader Ricardo Muti are back in New York for their semi-annual visit to Carnegie Hall, and Friday night marked the first of two New York programs this weekend.

Concert Review: The Night Was Sultry

Alice Coote sings French chansons at Zankel Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hot house: The mezzo Alice Coote. Photo © IMG Artists.

The grand tradition of French art song (usually referred to as chanson or melodie) is not as instantly familiar as the German lied. In this country, French music of the Romantic and Modern era  is usually heard in the concert hall, ballet theater or opera house, with the vast trove of songs relegated to academics or silently ignored. On Thursday night, English mezzo-soprano Alice Coote sought to correct that oversight with a vast and wide-ranging program of chansons, plucked and proudly displayed in a recital at Zankel Hall, the modern recital space tucked neatly beneath its parent, Carnegie Hall.